Explore Help Documentation

What is Explore?

The GovTribe platform aggregates federal procurement and contract data from multiple public data sources, draws relationships between those sources, and then provides profiles for every agency, office, vendor, contracting officer, NAICS category, federal opportunity, federal contract, and multiple-award vehicle (GSA schedules, GWACS, agency-level IDIQs). We then provide analytical information for each of those entities, as well as the ability to drill down into niche market segments, individual contract opportunities, and individual contract spending records.

The interface for browsing and searching this information is the Explore menu. The Explore menu contains seven “browsers,” each focused on a different entity type.

Projects – All current and past contract opportunities (through 2008) as sourced from FBO.gov.

Categories – Categorizations of the type of work being performed, as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Vendors – The companies and organizations that have registered to pursue government contracts or grants.

People – Contracting officers or specialists. The points-of-contact for procurements.

Contracts – The entire federal contract spending history as sourced from FPDS.gov.

Each of these browsers allows for filtered browsing and free text search against the relevant set of entities. Check out the video below for a brief introduction to GovTribe Explore.

Explore Projects

Explore Projects is GovTribe’s browser for federal contract opportunities. The primary source for Projects is fedbizopps (or FBO.gov), which is where the federal government posts information about the vast majority of publicly completed federal procurements.

You can use the Explore Projects browser to conducted filtered searches of current and past contract opportunities. To add a filter, simply start typing in one of the boxes and suggested results will pop up. For example, if you type “HHS” in the Agency filter box, “Department of Health and Human Services” will pop up. Click on that result and the filter will be added.

There is also a drop down menu filter for Opportunity Type, which lists the possible notice types for federal opportunities. Use the Due Date filter to quickly view only opportunities in the Solicitation, Pre-Solicitation, or Sources Sought phase where the response due date is still in the future. Add a Set-Aside Type filter to see just opportunities set aside for “Total Small Business” or “Competitive 8(a).” Search by keyword or phrase in the text box at the top of the page. We’ll match your search against Project titles, synopses, and file attachments. Click on any of the results to see the full opportunity details, review files, or add the Project to a Pipeline as a Pursuit.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore Projects browser. For complete definitions of all Project filters and data elements you can review our Projects Data Glossary.

Explore Contracts

Explore Contracts is the best way to browse and search Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS.gov) data on the internet. Use the powerful filters panel to drill down on narrow market segments, contract types, or time periods. Search by keyword against contract descriptions. Navigate complex contract hierarchies in the most intuitive way possible.

The Contracts filters panel allows you to narrow your market by funding agency or office, by place of performance, by the type of work being performed, by vendor or vendor type, by contracting or procurement mechanism, by date, or by contract size.

The Stats panel provides dynamically updated analytics for the subset of contracts that meet search criteria entered into the filters panel and/or the keyword search bar. You can quickly add new filters by clicking on any hyperlinked text and selecting “Add Filter.” You can also click on any mini bar chart or donut chart to see just the contracts that make up that specific entity’s performance.

Click through on any individual contract to see details like period of performance, obligations over time, detailed transaction information, and more. Use the contract hierarchy breadcrumbs at the top of the page to view parent contracts and multi-award vehicles.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore Contracts browser. For complete definitions of all Contract filters, data elements, and data export fields you can review our Contracts Data Glossary.

Explore Agencies and Offices

The Explore Agency and Explore Office browsers enable you to begin your procurement and contract browsing at the macro organizational level. Every federal agency and office has a profile on GovTribe, and each profile displays some aggregate performance and trend information driven by FPDS contract data. From there you can drill down to specific market segments to see open contract opportunities, or to research current contracts.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore Agencies and Explore Offices browsers. For complete definitions of all Agency filters and data elements you can review our Agencies Data Glossary.

Explore Categories

The Explore Categories browser enable you to begin your procurement and contract browsing at the macro NAICS category level. Every NAICS has a profile on GovTribe, and each profile displays some aggregate performance and trend information driven by FPDS contract data. From there you can drill down to specific market segments to see open contract opportunities, or to research current contracts within a specific NAICS. You can search NAICS codes using keywords or by simply typing in the NAICS code itself.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore Categories browser. For complete definitions of all Category filters and data elements you can review our Categories Data Glossary.

Explore Vendors

The Explore Vendors browser enable you to begin your procurement and contract browsing at the macro company/organizational level. Every federal contractor has a profile on GovTribe, and each profile displays some aggregate performance and trend information driven by FPDS contract data. From there you can drill down to specific market segments and research a given vendor’s performance in a specific market segment.

GovTribe subscribers may Claim the vendor page(s) associated with their own company in order to add a partnering profile to that page. Partnering profiles are a way to communication your company's capabilities and interests with regarding to partnering on business development opportunities. Check out the help section on Partnering for more information on claiming a vendor page.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore Vendors browser. For complete definitions of all Vendor (& Radar) filters and data elements you can review our Vendors Data Glossary.

Explore People

The Explore People browser enable you to research the activity of specific contracting officers (CO) for federal procurements. Use the filters panel to find COs that work in specific agencies or offices, or that manage procurements for contracts in certain countries or states. Every CO has a profile on GovTribe, where we provide contact information, a full procurement activity history, and a list of colleagues.

Check out the video below for a short introduction to the Explore People browser. For complete definitions of all People filters and data elements you can review our People Data Glossary.